With five touchdowns over the final eight games of 2013, it appeared Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz was experiencing a breakthrough. With seven receptions for 163 yards and two touchdowns in the first two games, Ertz seemed like a safe bet to live up to the hype that followed him into this season.
Since then, however, Ertz has become less of a factor in Philadelphia’s offense. In the eight games that followed, the second-year player has hauled in 23 passes for 267 yards and a score. To make matters worse, he’s been limited to one catch in two of the Eagles’ last three outings.
There were such high hopes for Ertz entering this season. With size, speed and tremendous route-running ability, there was talk of the 2013 second-round pick becoming the next dynamic tight end in the mold of Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski or Julius Thomas. Clearly, that hasn’t happened yet—but why not?
To begin with, perhaps expectations for the 24-year-old were a tad lofty. It’s not necessarily that Ertz doesn’t have the potential to join that group, although to be fair, that is setting the bar high—especially considering Ertz is still splitting time with starter Brent Celek.
Celek has started all 10 games for the Eagles this season and played 143 more snaps than Ertz, according to the game charters at Pro Football Focus (subscription required). It’s difficult to post Pro Bowl-caliber numbers when said player is only on the field roughly half the time.
Still, none of that explains why the steep drop into production from the last eight games of ’13 and first two of this season. Nor does it account for the decrease in Ertz’s playing time in recent weeks. PFF shows the Stanford product has actually been on the field for less than 50 percent of the offensive plays in four out of the club’s last six.
What we do know is the main reason Celek has been able to keep his job is he’s a vastly superior blocker. Undoubtedly, that’s also part of what’s pushing Ertz down the depth chart, as he has struggled in that aspect.
It was Ertz who was supposed to be protecting Nick Foles ’ backside on the play the quarterback suffered a broken collarbone, likely explaining why the tight end saw a season-low 24 snaps against the Houston Texans.
Ertz is working on outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, a third-year player with 17.0 sacks and three forced fumbles in 42 professional games. This is a mismatch.
Mercilus—great name for a football player, by the way—drives Ertz deep into the backfield, but the tight end is holding his own, or trying to at least. Left tackle Jason Peters is late to help, but at least Ertz has a body on his man. That’s more that can be said for right tackle Lane Johnson, who lets defensive end Jared Crick destroy the pocket.
Ideally, this ball would already be out, although that still doesn’t explain why Ertz gives up on this play. We probably couldn’t expect him to block Mercilus forever, but there’s a reason protecting the quarterback’s blindside is one of the most important jobs in football. Ertz needs to stick to his assignment until the whistle.
He doesn’t, and now Mark Sanchez is under center for the Eagles for the foreseeable future. Ertz is dangerous, and something tells me Foles isn’t going to ask him to be his wingman anytime.
With all the injuries, absences and displacement the offensive line has experienced throughout the year, Philadelphia has needed more from its tight ends up front, and the running game is no exception. The Eagles had first-time starters going at left guard and center against the San Francisco 49ers, so they needed Ertz to step up.
Ertz did not shine while All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy was en route to a 10-carry, 17-yard day.
Here the tight end is working on reserve outside linebacker Dan Skuta. He and Peters appear to have this play blocked up pretty well, actually. That is a HUGE hole by NFL standards, and with the 49ers putting eight men in the box to stop the run, McCoy could be off to the races.
Except Ertz can’t hold his block. Skuta, a six-year veteran, literally just throws Ertz to the ground, and as elusive as McCoy is, the linebacker is closing fast. Instead of a 20-plus yard gain—possibly even a touchdown—the carry goes for five yards.
The fact that Ertz is not a plus blocker in his second season is neither surprising nor unexpected. Fewer and fewer tight ends are polished blockers coming out of college, and this one is no exception.
That still doesn’t explain why so little production through the air, though. Or does it?
With four out of five starting offensive linemen missing extensive time this season, Philadelphia has been relying on its tight ends to help out up front, which we’ve established is not Ertz’s strength. That’s meant fewer opportunities as the season has progressed.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ertz was used on a passing route an average of 31.5 times per game. In the six games since, that figure has dipped to 22.2. That’s basically 10 fewer opportunities to catch the ball every week, which is a significant difference for a kid who averages less than 40 snaps total.
Ertz is 6’5”, 250 pounds. NFL.com lists his time in the 40-yard dash as 4.76 seconds, and he did 24 reps in the bench press at the 2013 scouting combine, second among invited tight ends. He has the size, speed, strength, route-running ability and intelligence to be an excellent target in the passing game, maybe even one day become a Pro Bowler.
He’s not getting on the field on a regular basis right now, though, not until either the offensive line gets in sync or he improves as a blocker. In all honesty, that may be the only thing that’s holding Ertz back.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1xCZQBa
via IFTTT November 19, 2014 at 06:29AM
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